OECD Week Recap

By: Staff PersonMay 27, 2011

Yesterday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) concluded its 2011 Ministerial Council Meeting, while commemorating the organization’s 50th anniversary. The U.S. served as Chair of this year’s meeting—with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leading the U.S. delegation—and Germany as Vice-Chair. The vision statement released this year focuses on coordinating policies for sustainable, broad-based economic growth and, with that goal in mind, implementing a new development paradigm.

Specifically, the new paradigm for development lays out a new direction for development across OECD member states. In her remarks yesterday, Secretary Clinton endorsed the Framework for an OECD Strategy for Development, which calls for “greater collaboration and knowledge sharing including sharing policy successes and failures and engaging in mutual learning, as well as deepening partnerships between the Organization and developing countries that want to engage,” in order to achieve more sustainable growth worldwide. The OECD is meant to work in areas where it has core competencies and experience and where the organization can enhance, but not duplicate other international efforts. It is also recommended that the DAC Chairman, as well as the Chair of the Development Center Governing Board, work closely with the Secretary General to help guide the implementation of the Framework.

Building on its collective strengths, the OECD has four areas of focus for development:

Innovative and sustainable sources of growth;

Mobilization of domestic resources for development;

Good governance; and

Measuring progress for development.

The OECD will also work to help countries develop more effective tax systems—through the OECD Tax and Development Program—and complement these focus areas with work on food security. Overall, this Framework is set to shape the agenda coming out of the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, Korea.

MFAN has covered key moments over the course of OECD Week 2011, including the public forum. Click on the links below for more information: